Elsevier, Clinical Nutrition, 1(37), p. 189-194, 2018
DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2016.11.023
Full text: Unavailable
Background amp; aims: A possible relationship between childrenapos;s dietary intake and certain aspects of eating behaviours has been documented, but most studies are cross-sectional and do not consider the complexity of the diet. The aim of this study was to quantify the association between dietary patterns established at 4 years old and appetite-related eating behaviours identified at 7 years old. Methods: Participants are children from the Generation XXI population-based birth cohort. Trained interviewers collected data at birth, 4 and 7 years old on socio-demographics, health and lifestyles, and anthropometrics. At 4 years old, diet was assessed by a Food Frequency Questionnaire and three dietary patterns were identified by Latent Class Analysis: apos;Healthierapos;, apos;Snackingapos; and apos;Energy Dense Foodsapos; (EDF). A Portuguese version of the original Childrenapos;s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) was self-completed by mothers at 7 year-old. This version has previously shown good psychometric properties and the 8 CEBQ sub-domains were combined into two wider dimensions: Appetite Restraint and Appetite Disinhibition. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the associations after adjustment for maternal characteristics (n = 4358). Interaction effects were tested. Results: Children belonging to the apos;Snackingapos; (ß = 0.329, 95%CI: 0.265; 0.393) and to the apos;EDFapos; (ß = 0.138, 95%CI: 0.098; 0.179) dietary patterns at 4 years old scored increasingly higher, respectively, on Appetite Restraint and Appetite Disinhibition dimensions at 7 years old, comparatively to children in the apos;Healthierapos; dietary pattern. Maternal BMI before pregnancy modified the apos;Snackingapos; pattern associations; they were stronger in children from underweight/normal weight mothers for Appetite Restraint and present only among overweight/obese mothers for Appetite Disinhibition. Conclusions: This study suggests that children following less healthy dietary patterns early in life have more often disordered eating behaviours in later childhood. Maternal weight status may influence these associations.